All posts tagged Sprint Nextel

SoftBank is now one step closer to acquiring Sprint Nextel Corp. If the U.S. Federal Communications Commission signs off on the deal, as expected, SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son will soon become chairman of the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier.

When pitching the deal to Sprint shareholders, Mr. Son argued that the practices that made SoftBank successful as Japan’s No. 3 carrier will transfer to the U.S. But one has to wonder, will Mr. Son’s Twitter habits go over well on the other side of the Pacific? Read More »

Investors in SoftBank heaved a sigh of relief after Sprint Nextel shareholders signed off on a megadeal to merge with the Japanese telecom operator.

SoftBank shares rose by as much as 4.2% to ¥5,660 in early Wednesday trading in Tokyo, after news that the Japanese firm cleared a major hurdle in its quest to become one of the world’s biggest mobile carriers as Sprint Nextel shareholders voted overnight to approve the company’s merger agreement with the Japanese telecom operator. Read More »

After losing ground due to uncertainty over who would win an increasingly heated battle, SoftBank Corp.’s shares rose Wednesday as investors interpreted Dish Network Corp.’s statement that it won’t submit a revised bid for Sprint Nextel Corp. as meaning the satellite service provider has thrown in the towel. Read More »

Masayoshi Son, the enfant terrible of Japan’s telecommunications world, seems poised to make his next audacious move: a reported $20 billion investment by his company, Softbank Corp., to take control of U.S. mobile carrier Sprint-Nextel.

Japan-watchers know Mr. Son as the CEO who periodically reinvents himself and Softbank — first as a software distributor, then Internet incubator, then broadband pioneer, and now global mobile-phone mogul. Softbank was largely responsible for bringing Apple Inc.’s iPhone to Japan, a move that has been a splendid success and big money-maker for the company. But this will be Mr. Son’s first big leap as a telecoms operator into an overseas market, and the move has investors and analysts alike scratching their heads.

The Journal team live blogged the press conference in Tokyo, featuring Mr. Son and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.

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Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com